TOP-FLIGHT STONES GET AN ANGEL IN CHARLEE
CHARLEE HUGHES’ journey to the National League has taken him via the Essex Olympian League – and the 24-year-old is determined to show he can step up with Wealdstone.
Hughes was part of Maldon & Tiptree’s rampant Isthmian Division One North side last season where he scored 29 goals as they led the table and reached the FA Cup second round by beating League Two side Leyton Orient.
The highly-rated forward has joined Dean Brennan’s National League new-boys along with his Jammers team-mate Danny Parish, who himself hit 30 goals in all competitions.
For Hughes it will be the highest he’s played. At 17 he effectively stopped playing for a year before he joined Old Southendians, where dad Lee was coaching, and finished top scorer.
He followed Hughes Snr to Burnham Ramblers in the Essex Senior League and his love for football was rekindled.
From there he played for Bowers & Pitsea before he hit 20 goals after Christmas in the Isthmian North with Brentwood Town which led to Wayne Brown signing him at Maldon.
“I got released from Leyton Orient when I was 16 and it kind of knocked my confidence a little bit,” Hughes told The NLP. “I went and played with friends for a bit and worked my way back into it.
“My dad, who is now coaching at Leyton Orient, said, ‘Look, just come and play with me’.
“It gave me that opportunity to not have to go and meet managers so I’m thankful to him for believing me and giving me that second wind of football confidence.”
That has shown in his goal record and Hughes – a PE teacher by day – says he has been driven to push himself up the ladder.
“When I gained my confidence again at Burnham Ramblers, a lot of opposition managers would come up to me after and say things like, ‘You shouldn’t be playing at this level’. For me that was nice. Not a lot of managers would do that.
“I got picked up by Rob Smalls at Bowers and he said the same thing. Unfortunately for me he had a cemented team where he was pushing for promotion so it was harder to work my way in to a team like that coming from a lower level.
“So I wanted to go somewhere and show what I could do so I went over to Brentwood where the manager Craig Shipman also said the same. From that point on I’ve always said I will test myself and my aim was to prove myself again with Maldon and see if I could make the next step.”
Hughes admits a sense of disappointment the Jammers couldn’t complete the job but he’s excited about his Stones challenge.
“Everybody I met at Maldon I consider a friend outside of football, which is rare,” Hughes said.
“Not only was it a team with tons of talent, it was a nice group and management team that helped that winning mentality.”
He added: “Wealdstone are on the up and I feel they are the perfect suit for me. There’s a certain buzz about the place because of the way they play and how they did it last season. It’s exciting to be a part of that.”